Endoscopic surgical instruments are often preferred over traditional open surgical devices since a smaller incision, or incisions, associated with endoscopic surgical techniques tends to reduce the post-operative recovery time and complications, Consequently, significant development has gone into a range of endoscopic surgical instruments that are suitable for precise placement of a distal end effector at a desired surgical site through a cannula of a trocar. These distal end effectors engage the tissue in a number of ways to achieve a diagnostic or therapeutic effect (e.g., endocutter, grasper, cutter, staplers, clip applies, access device, drug/gene therapy delivery device, and energy device using ultrasound, RF, laser, etc.).
During surgical procedures, for example, it is often challenging to appropriately engage tissue between jaws of an end effector in order to achieve the desired therapeutic effect. In certain instances, the anatomy of the tissue may hinder the therapeutic effect sought, e.g. thick tissue or tough tissue. While a spring-loaded jaw can assist in accommodating tissue of varying thicknesses, the spring-loaded jaw can deflect during activation of a cutting element resulting in ineffective cutting. Furthermore, the cutting element may deviate from its intended path and can potentially cause harm to the tissue and/or patient, or become jammed within the device.
Accordingly, there remains a need for improved devices and method for cutting tissue provided by a cutting element that is biased to facilitate tissue cutting.